Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-04-02
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIvINE,s SUN.
DAY SERMON.
Subjects -Four Fun Regiments"

LoTu.-l. Chronicles, xiii, 8; This dan shall
oeunto you for a memorial. Exodus, xii, IA.
When week before last the communicate
membership of this church passed into the
-FOUR thousand, now reaching four thousand
and forty-five, the first part of my text came
TO my mind, aud bethought myself what a
grand thing it would be if the four thousand
81 our communicate membership would, like
the four thousand of the ancient Temple,
make it their lifetime business, 20 praise the
Lord. Let them all take harp and timbrel
and anthem and doxologyl
The allusion of my second text is to the
Passover, which commemorated the deliver
ance of the Children of Israel on the night
when the destroying angel sped through the
land Of Egypt, destroying the enemy but
saving the lsraelites, because on the door
posts Of their dwellings was sprinlled the
blood of lamb To-day we come to celebrate
grander Passover, all peril going away from
our soul at the sight of the sprinl1led blood of
the Lamb of God on the door posts of our
hearts. Christ, our Passover sacrificed for
u.s. This day shall be unto you for me
The Sacramento Sabbath. whether it
comes in an American church or an English
chapel or Scotch kirk, is more impressive
than any other Sabbath Its light is holier,
calmer, sweeter; its voices more tender: its
touch is softer: its memories are more chast-
ened. The fruits of the Christian life sudden
ly ripen, like orchards on the hill fronting the
South. The wine of the Holy Sacrament
seems pressed from the grapes of Celestial
Vineyards and the bread broken seems to
drop from the hand of Him who parted the
loaves for the five thousand We walk to the
church of God with more thoughtful face and
with quieter step. The jubilant songs of 9th
or Sundays are struck through with
with tears and when. at the close
of the service, at the door we shake hands, it
is with more cordial grasp, because we feel
thrilling through our body, and mind, and
soul the great doctrines of Christian brother
hood and our minds go back to our fore
fathers celebrating the Sacrament in times of
persecution in Scotland among the Highlands:
concentrating the dying love of Christ,
while they were pursued of their enemies
pouring the wine into rough wooden CUPS.
dipping the waters of baptism from the
mountain rock, until one day they heard the
voices of their enemies coming up the HILL
and the pastor cried out: ''Oh Lord
the Shepherd, have mercy on the sheepw
and instantly there was O roaring heard
as of great floods and sure enough a cloud
had burst and there were great torrents run
ming down the mountain side that whelmed
their foes with sudden wrath. What de
liverance it was for them on that Sacramental
dry Oh, that on this Sacramento day the
cloud of Gods mercy might burst and orr
is the amethyst Of days. This is the pearl of
days. This is the diamond of days. This is
the day of days. Among the ten thousand
million ages of eternity the first Sabbath of
March, 1887, will be to you significant and
memorable, for "this day shall be unto youn
for ever and for ever "a memorial
There is much in the scene of to-day to i'm
nress us because it is a time of reinforcement
1 used to. remark that if / ever lived to see
our membership four Thousand / thought |
would be willing to say with one of old: ''Now.
Lord, lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace,
for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation" But
1 have changed my mind, and | never SO
much wanted to stay as now, so as to see them
all enlisted for God and to watch their victo-
ries. What might they not accomplish in the
way of making the world better If thew
were all baptized with n double por-
ton of the Holy Ghost Four thousand!
That is four full regiments, as military men
count thousand to a regiment. | think not
one hypocrite amongst them. Taken into
the church sometimes In large numbers, but
each one as carefully examined as to change
of heart and evidence of regeneration as
though he or she were the only one present.
ing himself or herself. Many of our former
members have passed away into the skies
and have Joined the church Triumphant.
left for the church militant. To
arins Quit you like menl We want no
reserve corps among them. Go into action all
of you. Some will be officers and command
Some will make cavalry charge Some will
be sharpshooters Some will stand guard
Some will be ON picket duty. Many of you
will belong to the rank and file. Let there be
no stragglers none off ON furlough, not one
deserter. With Christ for Commander-in-
chief, and the one-starred, blood-striped ban
ner Of manager and cross to lead the way. give
the order that the General in the war gave
when, rising in his stirrups, his hair flying in
the wind be cried out till all the host heard
him: Forward the whole linen
There is also something in such a scene to
deeply impress one, because it rehearses a
death scene Now, you know, there is some
thing very touching in such an incident
Though you are in hotel and it is q stranger
that is dying, now softly You move about the
place, and II you come up to his couch it is
with uncovered head. Even the voice of the
jester is stopped, and when the eyes of that
stranger are closed it is with emotion. But
am 10 tell you this morning of death such
as has never before or since occurred.
When we die, we die for ourselves and the
crisis is alleviated by all beneficent ministries
Bathings for the hands; bathings for the
head; bathings for the feet; the light turned
down low or set in lust the right place: all
the Offices Of affection about us when W,
come to die. But not so with Jesus. He
AAoN AtOO lOl l1lulSeu, DuD lie died IN
torment and He died for others. He might
have moved around in gardens made by His
own hand, an earthly potentate amid vine
yards and olive groves slOping to the sea. In.
stead OF being tossed in the fishing boat on
T1berius, He might have chosen sunshinv
day and pleasant wave for the lake crossing
Instead of being followed by an unwashed
rabble He might have charmed sanhedrims
and universities with His eloquence. In
stead OF cross and bunch of twisted
Drambles on His brow he might have died
IN the castle of a Roman merchant, the air
bland with lilies and frankincense. But no:
he died in torture; the good for the bad; the
kind for the cruel; the wise for the Ignorant:
the divine for the human Oh how fenderIy
we Ieel toward any one who has done q great
Kindness and perhaps at the imperiling Of his
own own me- How we ought TO feel toward
Christ: the Captain Of our salvation, on the
white horse riding down our foes; but in the
moment he made the victorious charge the
lances Of death struck Him!
There was a very touching scene among an
Indian tribe in the last century. Il seemed
that one OF the chieftains had slain a man he
longing TO an opposite tribe, and that tribe
came up and said 1--WE will exterminate Won
unless you surrender the man who committed
tnat crime" The chieftain who did the crime
stepped out from the ranks and said: II am
noL AFRAID TO die but have a wife and four
children, and have a father aged and
mother aged, whom | support by hunting
md sorrow TO leave them helpless lust as he